Land Rover Defender (L663)

The Land Rover Defender is a four-wheel-drive off-road SUV from British automotive company Jaguar Land Rover. The car was launched on 10 September 2019 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It is significant for being the first all-new version of the Defender, breaking the engineering lineage with its predecessor, a descendant of the original Series Land Rovers of 1948. The unibody-based Defender is aimed at a more upmarket segment than its predecessor.

Background

The Defender replaces the original Land Rover Defender (1983-2016). The cars are built in Slovakia at Jaguar Land Rover's Nitra plant, a manufacturing facility which opened on 25 October 2018. The plant covers an area of about 300,000 square metres.

The car, which shares no components or technology with its predecessor Defender model, features permanent all-wheel drive, locking differentials in the centre and rear, and a two-speed transfer case. Unlike the previous Defender models, the new model will feature an aluminium unibody instead of a body-on-frame construction. All Defender 110 variants come with air suspension as standard whilst the 90 can be optioned with coil springs or air suspension. Deliveries to customers of the 5-door Defender 110 began in early 2020, to be followed by the 3-door Defender 90 in late 2020.

Reception

The Defender has been well received by the motoring press, all reviews underlining that it is significantly different from its chassis-based predecessor: "It’s all very Defender – but not as we know it" declared the Evening Standard; "Born-again off-roader follows a new path and is all the better for it" declared the ''Motoring'' website. "Combine (its) seemingly impossible blend of qualities with a fantastic looking package inside and out and you have a vehicle that is literally like no other". A ''TFL Car'' review was critical of the quality of the cars, with readers giving accounts of problems within the first few weeks of ownerships and with only up to a few hundred miles of driving. Poor reliability has been a recurring theme with many Land Rover models.

In 2019, Lego announced a 2,573-piece "LEGO Land Rover Defender" set based on the vehicle, released in October 2019. It is one of the largest sets ever made by Lego.

Specifications

Mechanical specifications

The Defender 110 is long including the spare wheel on the rear door, or without it, and has a wheelbase of . The Defender 90 is long including the spare wheel and without, with a weight from with a 4-cylinder diesel engine.

Defender 90 models with coil spring suspension have a ground clearance of whilst the 110 and the 90 with air suspension have a maximum ground clearance of .

The initial engine choice will be from the following JLR Ingenium engines:
D200 - a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbodiesel with a fuel consumption of )
D240 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbodiesel of and
P300 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo petrol of and
P400 3.0-litre 6-cylinder turbo petrol mild hybrid of and )
P400e which is only available for the 110 which makes and has .
For the 2021 model year (announced September 2020), the following JLR Ingenium in-line 6-cylinder diesel engines with mild hybrid technology are available: D200, D250, D300.

All variants are fitted with a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission coupled with a 2-speed transfer case. The optional steel wheels are only available on Defenders with the smaller, less powerful four-cylinder engines as the six-cylinder engine requires larger disk brakes to be fitted.

In the US and Canada, the 90 model is only offered in a limited edition First Edition and the 3.0 6 cylinder engine while the 110 is offered in both the limited edition First Edition with 3.0 engine as well as the regular models with both 3.0 or 2.0 engines.

Trim levels and interior

The Defender is available in Standard, S, SE, XS, HSE, X, V8 and V8 Carpathian Edition trim lines. Land Rover also offers four accessory packs, called Explorer, Adventure, Urban and Country, which include various accessories such as a raised air intake, extended mud flaps, a side-mounted storage box, and more.

The entry-level 110 models will come equipped with air suspension, 18-inch steel wheels, LED headlights, and a 10.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system. The Defender 90 comes with coil springs, a standard front jump seat that adds a third seating position to the front row. Models with front bucket seats can be equipped with a wide centre console. The car debuts Jaguar Land Rover's Pivi Pro infotainment system, accessed through a 10-inch touch screen.

Safety

The Defender has been tested to 5 stars by Euro NCAP.

Future variants

Land Rover announced that a commercial edition of the vehicle, without rear seats or rear side windows, was to go on sale in 2020. It won't be imported to the United States, due to the 25% chicken tax that directly curtails the importation of commercial vehicles from Europe.

A shorter wheelbase version reportedly called the "80" will arrive in 2022.

File:2020 Land Rover Defender 110 X being tested, front left.jpg, US-market Defender 110 X (pre-production model)
File:2020 Land Rover Defender SE D240 Automatic 2.0 Rear.jpg, Defender 110
File:Land Rover Defender (L663) at IAA 2019 IMG 0688.jpg, Defender 90
File:2021 Land Rover Defender 90 (cropped).jpg, Defender 90
File:Land Rover Defender (L663) V8 IMG 6604.jpg, Defender 110 P525
File:Land Rover Defender at IAA 2019 IMG 0642.jpg, Interior
File:Land Rover Defender (L663) at IAA 2019 IMG 0711.jpg, Commercial van variant

Defender 90 engine specifications

Defender 110 engine specifications

References

External links

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{{Land Rover vehicles

Defender (L663)
Cars introduced in 2019
2020s cars
Retro-style automobiles
Compact sport utility vehicles
Mid-size sport utility vehicles
Off-road vehicles
All-wheel-drive vehicles
Euro NCAP large off-road